The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1887-03-05
NO GLORY TO HANG A WOMAN.

In the county Jail of TIerkimer, State Of
New York, Monday, there was hung by the
neck until dead a woman who few years
ago killed her husband. The name Of tie
woman was RoNalana Druse, neu RoXa
Tefft. and her life's history is one complete
book of sorrow. Left an orphan at an
early age. she was thrown ont upon the
cruel world without friends or home; for
few years she worked in factory, barely
making q subsistence, when she found a
home with an aged couple upon farm in
a country district where she first met her
husband, William Druse. From the time
she cast her lot with him 'for better or for
worse her life was made Il hell of raging
hate and brutality; she became his slave,
and from brght-eyed country lass with
rosy checks she soon became a broken
hearted, sad, depressed woman. Three
children were born to them, but instead OF
binding together by the tics Of affection
and loYe the hearts of man and wife it only
intensificd the brutalities to which he sub
jected her. On one occasion when he lost
a valuable COW he beat her so that for
weeks she could not leave her bed, at an
other time he beat her over the head with a
piece of cord wood and so on he inflicted
brutality after brutality until her life be-
came burden. "a vacant dream from
which all the glory of the bright Summer
day had fed" Cursed and abused from
morn till night there slowly crept INTO her
heart hate strong and bitter for the man
whom she had promised to Glove and obey"
but she bore faithfully and without MUIR
muir fm her childrens' sake the crueties OF
which he made her the victim, until one
fatal morning, maddencd and half crazed
BY the indignties heared upon her by the
brute in human guise, she took his life and
sent the worthless soul on its journey tc
the unknown land, there to await the fina
Jetribution. For ,this crime she was ar.
rested, tried by jury, found guilty and con
demned to die upon the scaffold. Th,
ablest individuals of New York State made
strenuous efforts to have her sentence com
muted to Imprisonment for life, and peti
tion after petition was sent to the Governor
Of the State and prayer after prayer wen
ND from the iircsides of country and cit,
homes to Him who judgcth all, that thi
poor, demented woman might be savet
from the horrible death which awaited he
and that the name of the proud Empir,
State, a world by itself, need not bear tn,
stigma attached to the hanging of a woman
But all pleading was in vain, and Governo
Hill laid down Sunday night with th
knowledge that on the coming day the lif
of a poor woman would pay the forfeit Of
deed committed in r moment of frenzy af
ter suffering long years of the most com
plete sorrow and wretchedncss, yet Il,
moved not in her defense, while one-hal
the people of that State cried for clemency
Governor II has showed his brute nature
still we venture to say that in the comm!
years Governor Hill will look back upol
this lost opportunity to relicvea human be
inS-a woman, with feelings not Of JOY, bu
rather of the most bitter sorrow. Perhap
'tis better so, for poor RoXalana Druse has
we trust, passed from an unfren5ly worlt
so land of ''pure delight where sorrow
are no more" But for Governor Hill W
have ''only pity, only pity, nothing more.